1. Field
The following description relates to an apparatus and method to determine a parameter, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method to determine an optimal frequency band for a hearing loss patient using an auditory model.
2. Description of Related Art
A hearing aid, which is a hearing device for a hearing loss patient, conventionally has a multi-frequency band. A frequency band of the hearing device is preset to 4 channels, 8 channels, 16 channels, and the like.
The frequency band can be adjusted through software provided outside or inside the hearing device. Conventionally, frequency bands of hearing devices of hearing loss patients are statistically collected, and an optimal frequency band for a particular hearing loss patient is determined using the collected frequency bands. Such a statistical method to determine the frequency band may not be appropriate for a hearing aid of a particular hearing loss patient who may have hearing loss diagnostics different from other patients.
When the frequency band is increased, hearing loss compensation increases. However, when the frequency band is excessively high, an amount of calculation to compensate for hearing loss would be excessive thereby reducing an operating efficiency of the hearing device. Furthermore, power consumption of the hearing device would increase. In contrast, when the frequency band is insufficient, a compensation effect for the hearing loss of a patient may be unsatisfactory.
Accordingly, there is a demand for a method to determine an optimal frequency band for a hearing device of a particular patient.